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WILD MARGARET, 1t
A : : . \
out a few words of thanks, and the captain, almost crush-
ing her hand—now very thin, and white—turned to go,
but he stopped at the last moment to add a word.
‘* And, Miss Leslie, don’t be afeared of me and my men
acackling. There's not a man as can’t keep his own
counsel, and there’s not a man as wouldn't rather be
strung up at the yard-arm than admit that he’d ever set
eyes on you!. No, miss, so far as the Rose is concerned, |
your whereabouts is as safe as if we didn’t know.’’’
Then he went, and Margaret was, indeed, left alone in ~
the world without a friend!
Captain Daniel had engaged a room for her at the hotel,
but to Margaret, whose wounded heart ached for quiet and |
solitude, the busy seaport seemed noisy and intrusive, and
the next day she started for Florence.
Fortunately, she had some money with her; not a large
sum, but the captain’s hospitality had left it intact, and
Mrs. Day had promised to send_on the notes which Mar-
garet had left behind directly Margaret sent her an ad-
ress,
For the present, fora few months at any rate, she was"
secure from the dread attacks of that most malignant of
foes—poverty. And she had her art; and she was in
Florence, the Florence of painters and poets, the Flower
City of the old world. The captain, who seemed as well
acquainted with inland places as he was with the sea-
oard, had recommended her to a quiet little hotel over-
looking the best view in ‘Florence; and there, in a little
room near the sky, Margaret found the solitude and quiet
which she so much needed.
One morning, the third after her arrival, she roused her-
self sufficiently-to go into the town and purchase’ some
painting -materials, and carrying them to a quiet spot com-
manding a view of the Arno and the wooded slopes above
it, began to paint. Se
At first her hand trembled and her eyes were dim, for
at every stroke of her brush the past came crowding back
upon her, and she could almost fancy that Blair was lying
by herside, and that she could hear his loving voice and
bright laugh; but after a time she gained strength, and
Was gradually losing herself in her work—the work which
alone could bring her ‘‘surcease from sorrow,” when- she
heard voices near her, and looking up saw a young girl
coming quickly along the path. She wasa beautiful girl
of about seventeen, with the frank open face of sorrow-
less childhood, and the springy step of youth and health.
The day was hot, and she. had taken off her hat which
Was swinging in her hand. Margaret had seen her before
the girl had noticed Margaret sitting almost hidden behind
an